Abbott announces early results of violent crime initiative for Houston area

Published 1:06 pm, Monday, May 22, 2017

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that one month after pledging resources to fight violent crime in Harris County and the city of Houston more than 450 arrests have already been made.

The statement from Abbott doesn't include how this compares to previous months, but he said the arrests include 26 suspects from various robbery crews. The announcement comes after the governor's brief visit in early April to announce an operation dubbed Operation North Star.

During that visit Abbott said that crime in Harris County and Houston was increasing at "an alarming rate," citing a recent wave of violent and notable murders in the region.

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He and Steven McCraw, Texas Department of Public Safety director, said Houston-area residents were living in constant fear.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo refuted those claims and said that crime had remained relatively flat in Houston for the last five years. The police chief did not comment on why the governor would make such statements, but said it goes against the data his department has collected.

Even so, a day after the governor's visit Acevedo confirmed his department would assign two squads to the state's initiatives.

Abbott's plans to reduce violent crime included redirecting Texas of Public Safety personnel from surrounding counties to Harris County and providing $500,000 in new funding from the Governor's Office to increase Texas Anti-Gang Center resources.

According to a press release from Abbott, the 450 arrests, included "26 suspects from 10 highly organized and coordinated take-over crimes."

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the arrests were made through Operation North Star.

"Operation North Star ... removed scores of violent offenders from our neighborhoods," he said. "I want to thank the team of law officers from DPS and other partner agencies that helped the Harris County Sheriff's Office make our community safer by zeroing in on violent criminals who pose a real threat to Texas."